Unity staff collaborate at the bank’s Birmingham HQ
Joshua Meek, Chief Impact Officer at Unity talks to business leaders about the bank’s impact model
Did you engage other team members?
How will you use your Award to promote your business going forward? Winning the King’s Award has opened up many opportunities for Unity. As well as championing our own sustainability credentials through PR activities, we have collaborated and formed new partnerships with fellow winners in the West Midlands. Using the King’s Award logo in our marketing material sets us apart from most of our peers and has proved a positive advantage to our commercial teams when engaging with customers and prospects. We proudly wear our King’s Award badges at events, awards and conferences and include the Award in our list of achievements and accreditations.
What do you consider to be the benefits of being a King’s Award holder?
Our CEO, Chief Impact Officer, Chief Finance Officer and Marketing team collaborated on this application. Describe any challenges you overcame in the process? There were no specific challenges. It was great to be able to save our progress rather than complete the application form in one go as we had to collate a lot of evidence and data to support our application. Now you’ve won an Award, what advice would you give to others thinking of applying? Don’t be daunted by the application form - but don’t leave it until the last minute either! It takes a while to fill it in properly but the honour of potentially winning such a prestigious award is worth it. Additionally, reaching out to your local networks (such as the Lord Lieutenant) to understand their views of how you fit in with the categories – and what excellence looks like – can prove useful.
While being a King’s Award recipient has obvious benefits and kudos externally, the impact that winning this Award had on our staff has been a real highlight. Everyone connected with Unity felt a huge sense of pride that their hard work, passion and commitment to sustainable business practices had been acknowledged in this way. In a competitive market, being the holder of a King’s Award also sends a very positive message to future employees that this is an authentic organisation that truly lives by its values.
Would you consider applying again in future?
Definitely. This is regarded as one of the most prestigious business awards in the UK and everyone connected to Unity Trust Bank is extremely proud to be a recipient. We’re privileged to be part of a relatively small and exclusive group of high achieving organisations.
Michelle Wilson, Relationship Manager, chats to one of Unity’s customers
King’s Awards Magazine 2025
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